Finding 975196 (2023-004)

Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name ‑ 84.047A 84.044, U.S. Department of Education, TRIO Cluster ‑ Talent Search Federal Award Identification Number and Year ‑ N/A Pass‑through Entity ‑ N/A Finding Type ‑ Significant deficiency and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding ‑ No Criteria ‑ The TRIO Upward Bound and Talent Search grants require management to assess and document each participant's U.S. citizenship as part of the required eligibility to participate in the programs (34 CFR section 643.3). Condition ‑ We were not able to verify that the U.S. citizenship for six of the 14 participants tested for the Talent Search program as management did not retain support for eligibility determination. Questioned Costs ‑ None Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed ‑ None Context ‑ The client provides eligibility determination for 137 participants. For six out of 14 participants tested, adequate documentation was not retained to ensure proper eligibility determination. Cause and Effect ‑ Due to significant turnover at GCYC, management did not retain support for certain participants' applications to support the eligibility requirement for the Talent Search program. Recommendation ‑ We recommend management to implement process and controls to ensure that appropriate support for eligibility is retained for every participant and there is evidence of review. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan ‑ Management concurs with the recommendation and will implement the proper internal controls to ensure all applications are complete and accurate. This is being accomplished by building out the internal accounting department, which includes adding a grants director to the team.